Muskegon clinches 20-0 regular season with 52-38 win against River Rouge

MUSKEGON, MI – A fast start carried Muskegon to a bit of basketball history Thursday night.

The Big Reds, ranked No. 1 in Class A, jumped out to an 18-5 lead after one quarter en route to a 52-38 victory against River Rouge that wrapped up the school’s first 20-0 regular season in school history.

William Roberson Jr. of Muskegon attempts to bring the ball past Amir Poole of River Rouge in the second quarter of Thursday's game. (Ken Stevens | MLive.com)

The crowd at Redmond-Potter Gymnasium wasn’t able to fully enjoy the moment until the Big Reds finally put away River Rouge late in the game.

Muskegon coach Keith Guy is glad to get the game behind the team and can now look forward to the state tournament. The Big Reds are a district host and face Grand Haven at 7:30 p.m. Monday.

“It’s such a quick turnaround and now we’re playing to keep our season alive and we have a worthy opponent in Grand Haven, so we have to be ready,” Guy said. “We can’t celebrate too long. We have to get back to work.”

River Rouge cut Muskegon’s lead under 10 points at 39-30 near the five-minute mark of the fourth quarter as the Big Reds battled foul trouble and a sluggish offense.

But junior Joeviair Kennedy, who finished with a team-high 19 points, made a pair of free throws and two field goals in a 9-2 run that sealed it.

Muskegon center Deyonta Davis picked up his fourth foul late in the third quarter and Kennedy got his fourth early in the fourth quarter, but the Big Reds weathered the challenge.

“We were two or three steps behind. We were sluggish,” Guy said. “Guys kept the ball and didn’t move it accordingly and we have to do a better job of that.”

Deshaun Thrower had 12 points and Jordan Waire added nine and hit a pair of early 3-pointers that helped stake Muskegon to its early lead. Davis also finished with 10 blocks.

“The start is always important. I just saw some open shots and took them and they dropped, so we got it rolling,” Waire said.

Terrell Crawford finished with a game-high 20 points for River Rouge, which finishes the regular season 9-10.